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Lifestyle Laws:Sleep: Lately, more nights than not, the baby wakes up three times a night to feed, and then goes back to sleep. That means we sleep more. We’re going to bed between 9:00 and 10:00, which is too early for me. There’s so little time to ourselves after work and kids. I tend to get up around 6:30 or 7:00. It will be interesting to see how it is once we’re sleeping all night. have improved, when I could, by going back to bed as soon as our baby settled down (in the middle of the night). I am also allowing myself to sleep in a bit more, resulting in completing less work, but...As our baby sleeps more, we will go to bed at about 10:00 and get up at about 6:00.Play: Still nothing formal, mostly playing with my daughter daily. We also socialize, but it’s not physically active (Superbowl party this weekend, etc.).Sunlight: I’ve spent more time outside lately, and will do so more and more when it warms up. Avoid Stupid Mistakes: FAIL. Months ago I booked a hotel, but failed to look carefully at the confirmation. Therefore, I did not catch a mistake that the hotel people made. Basically, someone clicked the wrong location and we got reservations in the wrong state. We decided, in the end, after discovering that the hotel we needed for our upcoming trip was now full, to scrap the March Boston trip and replace it with a better (but more expensive) trip to Seattle in August. I like it better this way anyway, but I’ll be more careful next time. Otherwise, I think I’ve been more aware lately than I was last month. Use Your Brain: I am watching less TV, reading more. I am reading the online book, Anachronauts, slowly. Also, I am getting more into cooking. I have begun preparing veggies and meats for soup, which my wife cooks. We tend to set up ingredients and freeze them so that we have enough to fix it several times. Also, I find tracking exercises to be fun and stimulating for now.

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Good news: Hey, whaddya know, my husband has biceps! I can see them even when his arms are relaxed now. Somehow this surprises me considering he's done like... what... three workouts? I like 'em!

Bad news: Incision started bleeding _again_. I thought the other day it was getting better, then changed the dressing after today's shower and changed my mind about it getting better. Then all day it was bugging me so I went upstairs and checked and whaddya know, damn thing is bleeding again. Aaargh.

It makes me simultaneously pissed and totally morose. I don't want to be this disabled ever again. I can't wait to get on a path of progress again for recovery from this c-section!

Somehow it makes me even more upset that my newly split seam wasn't _caused_ by any specific event. If it had been a direct consequence of something... then at least I'd know why it happened and I could prevent it from getting worse / more from appearing. But this random spontaneous bleeding has me very unnerved. How do I know another spot won't just randomly unzip later?

Anyway. I put another one of the cauterizing gel pads the E.R. suggested on it. I swear... My doc appt. on Monday can't come fast enough.

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Week 1-B
Exercise Action Item 1: Introduce Law 3: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace:
We were not able to take more walks between work and baby care. While I DO move frequently at a slow pace around the house all of the time, preparing for a party, cleaning, etc., I did not do it in any measured way.
Exercise Action Item 2: Introduce Law 4: Lift Heavy Things:
My father-in-law and I took down a mounted microwave and installed a new one. Lifting and holding up a microwave overhead while bending over a stove? I think that counts.

Diet:
Superbowl party. Had some chips and dip, but no soda. Just water. Chips tasted good, but were not satisfying and I stayed hungry until I ate a bunch of carrot. I think I need to stay with primal foods FIRST and usually ONLY.

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ON GOALS:
Okay. For the next three weeks, I am planning to do the following:
1) Not eat/drink anything on the non-primal list, except the bit of sugar that’s in a Fage yogurt and pop corn, if I go to a movie ony. I’m keeping those!
2) Monitor carbs daily and keep below 200.
3) Keep faithful to the exercise program (exception: LONG cardio sessions will be moderate--30-40 minutes. I won’t have times for long hikes, etc.)
4) Be careful with things like berries and fresh squeezed orange juice
5) At the end of the extended Leap, I’ll list foods that I no longer need/want, and non-primal foods that I am willing to have sometimes.

I have been unsure of my level of commitment because, frankly, I’ve gotten more into this than I really expected to. Therefore, I’ve needed to re-evaluate everything several times over.

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Week 2-B:
Exercise Action Item 2: Continue Aerobic Workouts:Moderate duration aerobic workout 1: 25 minute walk.Comments: This time I finally had a heart monitor. While getting my heart rate between 100 and 140 was comfortable, it required faster walking than I thought would be needed. My wife an I were walking together. At the pace required, I was not winded and could talk. However, going down hill at the same pace resulted in my heart rate doing down by about ten.

While my wife and I will be able to do this together consistently very soon, faster walking for her was a problem since she’s still recovering physically. The impact began to cause her some pain, so we kept it slow, and stopped.

This did teach me that, while the walk on February 4 did NOT bring my heart rate high enough to be in aerobic range, nor does my puttering around the house. Bringing my heart rate up requires a bit more push.

Exercise Action Item 3: Continue Strength Workouts:Abbreviated Strength Workout Log:
Location: Living room
Duration: 15 minutes
Rate difficulty/effort: 10/10
Rate enjoyment: 10/10
Knee Pushups (Level 2): 46/50
Chair-Assisted, 1-leg Pullups (Level 2): 15/15
Wall Squats (Level 1) 45/50
Elevated Jack Knife Press (Level 1): 25/25
Hand/Knee Planks: 90/90 sec; 45/45 sec; 45/45 sec
Bench dips: 25
COMMENTS: Leveled up on pull-ups. Just did the workout during lunch break. I feel great!
Diet Action Item 1: Sweet Spot:
I am not doing that because I am not trying to lose weight. However, I am committing to primal foods for three weeks, with the exception of Fage yogurt (has some sugar), and a tiny bit of pasta if that is what the in-laws fix on our weekly dinner with them. I will monitor carbs and keep them between 100 and 200, TOPS. I’ll include results in the food log.
Diet Action Item 2: Primal Celebration:
Jen and I are still too busy with the baby to host a large dinner or celebration (not counting a very non-primal Superbowl party---our friends are NOT primal). However, we did order nice Asian salads rather than sandwiches, etc. when we ate out with my in-laws. While my brother-in-law is not primal, he and I do share streaks and/or chicken weekly. We had steaks last night and will have chicken (Bane’s recipe) tonight.

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Week 2-B:
Lifestyle Action Item 1: Self-Limiting Beliefs, Behaviors, and Lifestyle Circumstances:
I tend to feel too busy to eat, take breaks, or exercise. I have been re-prioritizing, making time to enjoy lunch during the day, etc. Also, during this week I’ve taken either time in the evenings or during a lunch break (which I used to just not take) to do a quick workout or take a walk. Of course, my new work situation allows for that. When I was the only manager, it was impossible to keep up with anything no matter what I did.

I will also need to be more strict about eating primally even invited out or to a friend’s home. Jenny and I agreed that an occasional deviation is fine, but the first month for me included several situations that I could have controlled a bit more. If someone is serving only pasta, I have no problem having a little. If there are other things, then I’ll have less or none of the non-primal stuff. So, with non-primal foods, I can either have a tiny bit, or politely choose other things. We could also eat something primal BEFORE attending a party where there will be tons of junk food. That way, at least hunger will not be a driving force.
Lifestyle Action Item 2: Primal Leap Commitments:
So far this month I have kept my commitment to exercise regularly. Time has not permitted LONG aerobic workouts, but I have been doing short ones as well as strength exercises, and it feels great to be active again. I’ll pick a time to do sprints later this week. It’s only fifteen to twenty minutes anyway.
It does help that we are sleeping more than we were.

Some goals:Diet: Eat primally most of the time, monitor carbs more carefully. Exercise: Continue exercising, get strong and have more fun!Lifestyle: Play more, limit TV a bit more in favor of visiting friends/loved ones, playingCareer: Keep up at work, finish my continuing education requirements for my license.Personal: I want to make more time to play with my kids, date my wife, go out with friends sometimes (including my brother-in-law), and read more.

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So, we won’t have to go shopping for months, aside from getting fresh veggies for salad. We got a lot of things on sale recently:
Dried cherries
Dried blueberries
Three bags of pistachios
A very large bag of macadamia nuts
About five to six lbs of each: blueberries and blackberries
About 18 lbs of steaks (NY strip and sirloin)
11 lbs of frozen veggies
30 lbs of various cuts of chicken
I love having a freezer!